1. Field of Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of materials handling systems. More particularly, this invention relates to self-organizing materials handling systems.
2. Art Background
Materials handling systems typically include a variety of standard mechanical assemblies for transporting items. Such standard mechanical assemblies include powered or unpowered conveyors which may include rollers, belts or other conveyor mechanisms. Such assemblies also include specialized components which are adapted for systems used in specific industries. Such components include sensors for tracking the movement of items in the system and actuators for routing the items among the various paths in the system.
In prior materials handling systems, the sensors and actuators are usually moderated by a central controller. Typically, the central controller is programmed to obtain information from the sensors and provide the appropriate control inputs to the actuators as the particular process requires. Unfortunately, such a programming task along with the necessary debugging time typically consumes a large fraction of the cost and time required to develop such prior materials handling systems.